NEW ERA IN FILMS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19731, 28 December 1926, Page 3

NEW ERA IN FILMS

INTERNATIONAL OUTLOOK NECESSITY FOR WIDE APPEAL. DOMINION SCENIC PICTURES. The remarkable growth of the cinema and its influence nas long passed the stage where its position as perhaps the greatest factor in the enlightenment and entertaininent of the masses could be disputed, and it is rather on the direction of that influence that most thought is concentrating. That some of those most closely interested in the production of films arc awake to the responsibilities of the new order was one of the points emphasised by Mr N. Bernard Freeman, managing-direc-tor of Metro-Goldwyn Films (New Zealand), Limited, in an interview, in ■which he discussed, among other matters, the development of New Zealand publicity liims and. the attitude toward British films.

•‘The public is the deciding factor in the success of a film, or of a film concern,” said Mr Freeman. “Motion pictures have completely developed beyond the stage where their appeal could bo strictly local. To-day, to be classed as a good motion picture, a film must appeal to any audience in any country. The average motion picture patron does not concern himself as to - where the picture was made or about the locale of the story or the nationality of the players, lie goes to be entertained, and tlie ability of the picture to entertain is what counts. Who made the picture and where it was made are of secondary importance. A good picture will succeed anywhere, in spite of the land of origin, provided it possesses that potent factor —international appeal. ’ ’ British and Foreign Films. It was this international appeal, said Mr Freeman, that was the guiding principle of the concern with which he was connected. It selected good plays from many countries for release in the numerous theatres it controls, lie was at the moment negotiating for the contract of a British film at a very high figure. That followed the policy of the concern that each picture it released should have the essential international appeal. “Tho proposal that there should be one British film for every group of foreign films is absurd on the face of it,’ ’ he declared. ‘‘What would the people say if the dictum were extended to socks, or hats, or rars? Imagine how it would work if it applied to paintings, or to literature! Obviously the right answer is that Britain must produce films equalling or exceeding tho standard of the foreign article. 'That she can do it is demonstrated in the confidence my concern has shown in selecting British ‘films for release in the 350 city theatres of its American circuit, which includes the famous Capitol Theatre of New York.” No good film corporation would take the risk of foisting through its products tho patriotic ‘' flapdoodle’' of its country. “The public might take its pleasures seriously sometimes,” said Mr Freeman, “but it docs not answer tho call of a bugle. It wants entertainment, and it has an unmerciful way with any counterfeit.”

Success Over Opposition How tho international appeal is safeguarded even in films that at first sight might suggest the jingo influence was illustrated in a film shortly to be released, Mr Freeman said. This followed the adventures of an American boy through the Great War and while it 'could not put him in the uniform of all the Allies it told so human a story, and was based on such dramatic settings, that in London it ran for a season of seven months, holding up other films from release. ‘ ‘This was In spite of an organised campaign of opposition,” added Mr Freeman, ‘•‘which shows tho public is as ready tp comm,end as to condemn, all the ‘dope’ in the world notwithstanding.’The fiction that British films could make no headway in the United States was refuted in tho success of the olhcial New Zealand, publicity films. Three of these had been submitted to the Metro-Goldwyn-Maycr concern, and he was practically certain of being able to make an announcement almost immediately that a contract would be arranged with tho Publicity Department for a constant supply of such films. This would be arranged without any cost to the New Zealand Government, and the value of the contract would be realised when it was recollected that the films would have first run in 350 theatres, one of which, the Capitol at New Y’ork, alone accommodated over 3000 people.